Robotics

An important milestone for the Human Brain Project has been reached: as of 30th March, the prototypes of the six information and communications technology (ICT) platforms are set for release. The neurorobotics platform, led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), gives scientists the chance to apply brain models to various different robots and thus conduct their own experiments.

A small team of researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has taken the idea of controlling live insects using electronics a step further—by controlling its gait. In their paper published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the team describes how they created their 'cyborg' beetles, why they did so, and where they see the technology going in the future. Over the past several years, scientists have found that they can control the movement of various insects by implanting electrodes that stimulate leg muscles in a prescribed fashion.

The human-machine interactive experience has been up for a rethink at Cambridge, MA -based Fluid Interfaces group from MIT's Media Lab. These are the innovative champions in thinking up enhanced interactions and systems that can be more responsive to people's actions. One such project is the creation of the "Flying Pantograph." A very simple way of describing it would be that it is a flying drawing machine, but that would hardly scratch the surface.

As part of a project to improve safety in the energy pipeline industry, researchers have successfully flight-tested a miniature methane gas sensor developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, on a Vertical Take-off and Landing small unmanned aerial system (sUAS). The sensor, similar to one developed by JPL for use on Mars, enables detection of methane with much higher sensitivity than previously available for the industry in hand-carried or sUAS-deployable instruments.

They are all shapes and sizes, with all numbers of legs. They can put out fires on ships, shimmy up construction sites to do dangerous inspections, safely traverse battlefields and enter power plants to plug radiation leaks. Oh, and they play soccer, too. One tiny one even break-dances. These are just some of the products of the endlessly creative mind of UCLA's Dennis Hong, director of the legendary RoMeLa (Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory), and his intrepid band of robot-loving graduate and undergraduate students.

The world’s first industrial robot was an idea conceived after a conversation about science fiction novels between inventors George Devol and Joseph Eagleburger in 1954. Six years later, Unimate had secured its place in the robotic hall of fame as the world’s first industrial robot. It was then put to work on the General Motors assembly line in 1961.

Drone images accumulate much faster than they can be analysed. Researchers have developed a new approach that combines crowdsourcing and machine learning to speed up the process. Who would win in a real-life game of "Where's Waldo," humans or computers? A recent study suggests that when speed and accuracy are critical, an approach combing both human and machine intelligence would take the prize.

Roboticists are as focused on small robots that can function and go where the big robots cannot. It's all about scale at the Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory at Stanford. They are working on robots that live at the boundary of airborne and surface locomotion. Smaller robots are robust in dealing with impacts, more capable of rapid orientation changes, and can achieve higher adhesive forces relative to their size.

Comau continues its growth in the Robotics sector, and for the third consecutive year has recorded a double-digit increase in articulated robot sales. Similarly, the results in individual industries reflect the global growth trend, which is even more significant as it underlines the success of Comau’s market penetration strategies.

Remembering robots from film portrayals may help ease some of the anxiety that older adults have about using a robot, according to Penn State researchers. In a study, older adults who recalled more robots portrayed in films had lower anxiety toward robots than seniors who remembered fewer robot portrayals, said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director, Media Effects Research Laboratory.

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